Shadow Child
by llee
Summary: The newborn vampire decides to pay a visit to Las Noches and witnesses a little exchange between Fala and Aubrey.
1. Change of Blood

Edana, Snipe (c) Llee  
Ather, Jager, and everything else (c) Amelia Atwater-Rhodes  
  
Author's note  
My second In the Forest of the Night fic, but the first one published. The other one was a failure and deleted. I hope to keep this one going, though. Edana has been a long time vampire char of mine, and I hoped to bring her into Amelia's world.   
  
The child strolled among the shadows, her friends. She turned her head left and right, as though she was trying to be cautious or prepared.   
  
Ather stepped forward, dragging the child into even deeper shadows.   
  
"You are young now, but you will grow and learn. Save that part for later, though. First, you must die."  
  
The child had no idea what the strange woman had just said. It sounded scary, though, and she wanted to be no part of it. But what else did she have to do? An orphan on the streets. That is what she was. She tried to pull her wrist away from the woman's grip. Should she cry out for help? Would anyone stop to help a homeless child?   
  
"Stop it. What do you want from me? I do not even know who you are."  
  
Ather smiled poisonously. She showed serpent's fangs. "You do not need to know who I am. You must plan for what you are going to be."  
  
What did that mean? This woman was a demon! The child screamed, not knowing what else to do. This woman was too strong.   
  
"Afraid?" Ather inquired. "That is not what you should be. You must be strong. The world is a scary place, child. But the strong will live, and you will be strong."   
  
The child struggled still. "Will I become what you are?"  
  
"Do not press me with useless questions. Just follow." She continued to drag the child along to a large house.   
  
The child had no idea where she was. She did not remember the many turns through the streets, and her head was dizzy. The house was strange. It was black. It seemed devoid of all light. The demon's home.   
  
"Where am I?" The child gazed at everything in fear and awe.  
  
"New Mayhem. You may soon find it to be your home. Unless you choose otherwise." The lady entered her abode with the child.  
  
"No! I don't want to live here! I don't want to be here!" The child screamed and bit her attacker's wrist, piercing the skin.  
  
Ather laughed. She wiped the blood away with her own tongue. "Good, you'll need the practice."   
  
"What?" The child asked, still confused. She was taken to a dark room and forced into a chair.   
  
"I'll make this somewhat easy for you. Now, just relax." The vampire reached over to the child's neck.   
  
The small orphan struggled more. She could feel her blood draining away. It was a relaxing, soothing feeling, but she did not want to give in. If she gave in... if she gave in, what would happen again? Something really bad. She did not want it to happen. So she woke herself up and tried to kick at the demon. The pain caught up to her soon enough. The child screamed at the pain shooting through her veins. Her heart was beating only barely, but it was as loud as drums beating in her ears. She muscles relaxed. She felt a faint coming on.   
  
She was going to faint, and she knew it. She felt something else, though. Something liquid flowing down her throat. It felt like a river, a river of time. Ather was feeding it to her. The taste was bitter, yet somehow good. She tasted power and eternity floating down and spreading out, overtaking her heart and arteries.   
  
It was then when she felt the pain becoming immense and unbearable. Her heart was slowing down. She told it with her mind to stop, to start beating again. She needed to live! But why? What did she have to live for anyway? No one cared about her. She felt her lungs compress. Her air was running out. She did not even have the strength to cry or scream. The pain overcame her, and blackness proceeded to flood her mind.  
  
~  
  
"I brought you your first meal. The next one, I expect you to hunt for yourself." It was the demon's voice.  
  
She opened her eyes. She felt a hunger. Of course, she was always hungry, surviving from the trash on the streets, but this was a different hunger. It tore at her body and her vision. She couldn't see clearly. She knew what she needed, wanted: fresh, mortal blood.  
  
She heard it. It was close. There was a beating and a pulsing. She leaped with newfound strength. She found herself surprisingly limber and agile. She sunk her teeth into the flesh before even realizing what she was doing. She sucked the body dry. She licked her lips with satisfaction. She looked at her victim. It was a man in his thirties. The vampire child had seen the images of his past life. The man had a wife and children, a job, a life, unlike her.   
  
Ather saw that the child was finished with her meal. She disappeared with the lifeless body. She reappeared again.   
  
"Where is he?"  
  
"It is of no matter. You will do the same to countless others. You must do so to survive."   
  
"I... I don't want to." The child said this with uncertainty.  
  
"Well, you just did, and you seemed to enjoy it. Get over it." Ather said, her voice like a whip. "You can go where you wish. Learn to manipulate the minds of humans and avoid them. They are no friends of yours." She leaned closer and drilled the next words into her new fledling's mind. "Remember what they did to you? You were alone... all alone. They didn't care. They never care. They are stupid."   
  
The child flinched, remembering her past. "But it is still wrong." She remembered her morals. Killing was bad. Everyone knew that.   
  
"Well, now you need to kill to live. You mean to say you went through all that pain for nothing?"   
  
The child crouched on the floor, still frightened. "I did not want to go through that. I'd rather stayed human and stupid."  
  
"Who said you had a choice? It is my power, and I will use it as I wish." Ather declared. "Now stop shivering. It's pathetic."  
  
The child tried to be brave, but she could not help but fear this demon.   
  
"Don't make me regret changing you. I do not often waste my time. You will learn to use your powers, but it is not my job to teach you. So find out for yourself. You are dismissed. I no longer wish to see your face, and I no longer wish to smell your fear."   
  
The child ran for the nearest exit. She did not yet know that she could go wherever she wished with just a thought. She fled the house and dived into the nearest shadows. The shadows were always her friends. She was a nameless child of thirteen. She was born alone. Her parents were lost memories.   
  
"I must find a name for myself. I can no longer go about the world unheard. Edana I will be."  
  
She did not even know the name of her murderer. She looked around. It seemed to be a city of sorts. There was something wrong with the place. Just the atmosphere was murderous. It was dangerous here, and she knew that. She did not want to stay here, but how did one get out? Where would she go afterwards? She had no place to stay. Perhaps it was best just to stay here... in the comforting shadows.  
  
"What are you doing here? This is my territory." A male voice echoed.  
  
"Me? Is this your territory? I didn't know. Sorry." Edana stood up weakly and started to move away. She saw the speaker. It was a male demon this time. He seemed young, though obviously he surpassed his years. He had dark crimson hair. His eyes seemed to have a yellowish tinge on the fringes of the endless black.  
  
"Stay away, child. You have no place here among us immortals."  
  
"Immortal? Is that what I am now?" She stopped but did not turn around to face him.  
  
"Oh, so you're a newborn. Still have no clue do you? You're a vampire now. Have you fed?"  
  
"I've fed." She cringed, not liking the term. "Vampire? What is that?" She peeked at him over her shoulder, curious.  
  
"It means you are an immortal, and you have to drink blood to survive. Try to stay away from everyone else. They're all out to kill."  
  
"Thanks for the warning. Who are you?"  
  
"Me? I'm pretty young for a vampire. I'm one hundred twenty-two, but I look like I'm fifteen. That's when I was changed."   
  
"I'm thirteen. My name is Edana." She finally turned around completely and looked directly into his strange eyes.  
  
"Is that the name your blood mother gave you? My blood father gave me the name Snipe."  
  
"I don't even know my blood mother's name. And Edana is the name I came up with."  
  
"Interesting... I sense you came from Ather's house. My blood father is Jager, and Jager and Ather are blood siblings."  
  
"What does that make us? Cousins?"  
  
Snipe laughed. It sounded unpleasant. Perhaps demons could not laugh with joy. "I don't feel we are related. But I'll be seeing you around." He grinned and disappeared.   
  
"That one is strange." Edana commented. She turned and continued her stroll. "Where would she go? Where could she go? It seemed these vampires were an unfriendly race. They wanted you to stay away and off their territory." She'd just have to find a place unoccupied. She found that the city was fringed with a forest. She climbed a low-branched tree and made herself comfortable. She would sleep here until night arrived. She trusted these demons were night creatures. In truth, she did not know what time of day it was. The sky was no clue, as she sensed no sun. "Maybe it is eternal night here." She thought silently. She drifted to sleep.   
  
~ 


	2. Battle of Knowledge

Edana (c) Llee  
Aubrey, Fala, and everything else (c) Amelia Atwater-Rhodes  
  
Author's note  
Thanks to Mara Kraus, Aya, Silver Goddess, and Spike's Girl for reviewing!   
  
Edana woke. Still no sun or any sign of daytime. If it really was eternal night, she could still see with perfect clearness. Perhaps it was one of her powers. She gained night vision eyes.   
  
She sat up on her tree branch. What was there to do? She asked herself again. There was no need for food. Her stomach did not growl or pain her. The hunger for blood was vague as well. She had fed just yesterday. She hoped she would not need to feed often. The idea of killing still scared her.  
  
So what did these vampires do? Did they have jobs in this maniac town of theirs? She leaped down from the tree with that amazing grace that she had gained. She landed like a cat.   
  
She decided to explore. Surely in this place, no one cared about her being an orphan.   
  
She exited the forest, still keeping to the shadows. Edana hoped not to bump into another vampire. She was still afraid, despite Ather's words.   
  
She stood in front of a foreboding building. The name of the place was Las Noches. She knew it meant "The Nights," as she had learned a bit of Spanish from her wandering. She drew in a wavering breath and stepped in. She quickly moved to the side against the glass wall, heading for the nearest corner. She noticed that the wall was actually a broken mirror with cracks along every inch. She wondered how they stayed up like that.   
  
She quietly sat down into the nearest chair by the corner. She scrunched her knees by her chin. She watched the various creatures, walking, talking, drinking, and laughing that same, cruel laugh. She shivered uncontrollably, feeling a cold fear. She swallowed down the bitter medicine, the truth that she was one of them.   
  
She gathered her senses. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her surroundings. There was a weird sensation, a feeling, around each being in the room. From that, she could gather their movements and such other things. Humans were in the room as well, with their own... aura. That's what it was, an aura. The vampires had auras, strong auras. Each individual had a different one, so that she could identify them by just... sensing. She wondered what her own aura felt like.   
  
She knew she could learn from this. She practiced her vampire senses, her "gifts." She sat almost fascinated from new discoveries. She soon learned that her mind could do many things, like travel and transform her shape and body. She learned by observing. Still, she had much to learn.   
  
She was eager to try some of her new abilities. In the blink of an instant, she was sitting on the tree branch she had slept in earlier. In another blink, she returned to her seat in the corner. It was easy.   
  
Her sharp ears caught a loud crash. She looked. A chair had been thrown across the room, cracking the already shattered mirror. The thrower was a demon female. She had a fiery aura about her, and she was definitely mad about something. Edana wondered if she should leave. The situation looked dangerous.   
  
"Get your filthy hide out of here!" The woman shouted.   
  
Another vampire, obviously the woman's target, was smirking. He was not moved by the woman's brazen actions.   
  
"Temper, temper." The male vampire remarked, mockingly.  
  
"Shut up! I am sick of your game. The witches are prancing about as if they OWN this place!"   
  
"Upset about your house?" He seemed to be enjoying himself.  
  
The woman growled. "You should rot in Hell!"  
  
"Doesn't sound too bad."  
  
"Oh, Aubrey," the woman said in a mock sing-song tone. "Your precious Jessica is waiting for you. I think you should go back to hanging at her heels." Aubrey frowned, his eyes threatening. Her voice drastically changed as she spat the words into his face. "You lap dog. Because of that weak, pathetic girl, you allow the witches to invade our property like locusts. Because of you, my house has been burned down by a couple of worthless-" She was so mad she couldn't go on.  
  
"Fala, Fala," Aubrey played. "Don't tell me you can't handle-"  
  
"Shut it," Fala whipped, her face turning red with hate. "You better fix the problem. Before I rip off that girl's face. And perhaps even yours." The woman left in the blink of an eye.   
  
Aubrey shrugged nonchalantly. He lounged a little longer, drinking something from a glass. He poured some more and ignored several stares from the rest of the room.   
  
Edana blinked out of a trance. The scene was probably one of many. Her knees shook. That man was dangerous. She could clearly see that. Somehow, she could feel his strength was greater than that woman's, Fala's. So Fala was making false threats. Who was this "girl" they kept referring to? It would be doubtful that Fala would fight him. Perhaps these vampires only fought with words. But with so much power, would they not want to use it?   
  
Aubrey glanced over at her. Edana's eyes went wide. The glance was quick, but his eyes locked with hers in that split second. What Edana did not know yet was that her mind was completely open. Her thoughts could be read by anyone in the room with that ability. So, she was shocked to see someone had noticed her and acknowledged her presence. She used her newfound power of transportation to return to her tree branch.   
  
She wondered what sort of ritual vampires went through to mark their territory. She decided a few words would have to do.  
  
"This is mine."   
  
She said aloud to nobody and everybody. She permeated her aura all over the tree, hoping it would leave the message, "Stay away." 


End file.
